Raditz VS Tien Shinhan

The preliminary rounds continued, and the contestants were gradually eliminated until the final eight were decided.

The matchups for the final eight were determined by a draw.

Through Tien Shinhan's deliberate arrangement, Raditz was pitted against him in the first match.

"We are now entering the quarterfinals of this Martial Arts Tournament. Master Roshi's disciple, Raditz, will face Crane School's disciple, Tien Shinhan. This promises to be an exhilarating bout."

"Now, let the match begin!"

The referee stepped off the stage.

On the ring, the two stood facing each other.

Tien Shinhan crossed his arms, his tone still laced with arrogance. "Kid, you've got some skill to make it this far, but this is where it ends."

Raditz merely looked at him calmly, loosening his wrists and ankles. "Don't speak too soon, Three-Eyes. Let me see what the Crane School is really made of."

"Hmph, you'll see!"

Tien Shinhan let out a low shout and launched himself forward! He threw a straight punch aimed directly at Raditz's face.

Raditz shifted his feet slightly to dodge, appearing as though he had only just managed to avoid the blow.

Tien Shinhan's brow furrowed slightly. He unleashed a flurry of strikes, his attacks coming in like a tidal wave—vicious, precise, and aimed at vital points.

Raditz appeared quite "flustered," dodging left and right across the stage. He spent most of his time blocking and was occasionally forced to take a few hits, seemingly completely on the back foot.

"What's wrong with Raditz? He looks like he's struggling!" Krillin, watching from the sidelines, said anxiously.

"His opponent is strong," Yamcha said in a deep voice. "That Tien Shinhan—his speed and power are incredible."

Goku, however, was watching with great interest. "The opponent is indeed strong, but Raditz hasn't even gotten serious yet."

Master Roshi (Jackie Chun): "Indeed, the boy is testing him."

On the stage, Raditz was deliberately suppressing his speed and power, appearing "evenly matched" with Tien Shinhan. Although he looked passive, his footwork remained steady and his eyes calm.

"Hey, kid!" Tien Shinhan suddenly widened the distance between them, impatient. "Stop playing around! I know you're capable of far more than this! Give me your all!"

Raditz steadied himself. Knowing he had been seen through, he stopped hiding and smiled. "You want me to go all out? At the very least, your current fisticuffs aren't enough to warrant that."

"Arrogant!"

Tien Shinhan was thoroughly enraged. He flickered and lunged again, but this time his speed was even greater, accompanied by a faint whistling sound as he broke the air.

However, Raditz's figure blurred in an instant and vanished from the ring.

Afterimage Technique!

In Tien Shinhan's field of vision, "Raditz" seemed to fill the entire arena, striking poses from every direction.

The entire crowd gasped in surprise.

The referee's voice rose in excitement.

"Wow! Look at that! Contestant Raditz seems to have used some kind of magical spell—the whole stage is full of him!"

"That trick won't work on me!" Tien Shinhan sneered. His three eyes darted left and right, observing the phantoms on the stage.

"There!" His gaze instantly locked onto a phantom at the edge of the ring with the most solid presence, and he delivered a swift, fierce side kick!

"Bang!"

Raditz caught the side kick, "forced" into the engagement. Fists and feet collided, and the sound of rapid-fire impacts echoed across the ring. Under Tien Shinhan's assault, Raditz fought while retreating, skillfully leading his opponent toward the perimeter.

"Got you!" Tien Shinhan spotted an opening and threw a heavy punch straight at Raditz's chest.

A golden light flashed in Raditz's eyes. He crossed his arms, neither dodging nor retreating, and took the blow head-on.

At that very moment, Raditz's aura suddenly surged, and he threw his arms wide open.

"Hah!!"

A powerful blast of energy erupted from him without warning, forming a visible shockwave!

Tien Shinhan, standing at point-blank range, bore the brunt of the impact. The force of the blast sent him flying off the ring.

"What?!" Tien Shinhan's expression changed in shock as he realized he was about to hit the ground.

At the critical moment, he steadied himself in mid-air, hovering just outside the ring.

Flight Technique!

Raditz stood at the edge of the ring, a look of realization on his face. The burst of energy seemed to have taken a toll, leaving him slightly breathless, but his eyes were brighter than ever.

"So that's how it is." Raditz stared intently at Tien Shinhan's hovering form, sensing the flow of energy around him, and gained a glimmer of understanding.

Tien Shinhan was both shocked and furious. Hovering in mid-air, he looked down at Raditz with lingering fear. The power of that sudden burst of energy far exceeded his estimations.

Even though he had used the Flight Technique to avoid an immediate defeat, the impact still left his chest aching.

"Since you want to see my true strength, I'll let you see plenty of it!" A more intense fighting spirit rose within Tien Shinhan.

He did not descend immediately. He pressed the fingers of his right hand together and aimed them from afar at Raditz on the ring.

Highly compressed energy gathered at his fingertips, emitting a faint white light.

"Dodon Ray!!"

A beam of condensed energy tore through the air, shooting straight toward Raditz!

The crowd below gasped in surprise.

"Watch out!" Krillin shouted instinctively.

Goku, however, had bright eyes, staring intently at Raditz's movements.

He had seen this technique used by Tao Pai Pai before, but this Dodon Ray was even stronger than the one Tao Pai Pai had used.

Facing this astonishing energy wave, Raditz pulled his hands to his waist, palms facing each other, and a deep blue sphere of light formed and expanded in an instant!

"Kamehame--"

"--Ha!!"

A blue energy beam, several times thicker, erupted with a roar, accurately colliding with the slender Dodon Ray.

"BOOM!!"

The two energies clashed violently in mid-air. It lasted only a split second before the Dodon Ray retreated step by step under the overwhelming, continuous energy of the Kamehameha, being forced straight back.

"What?!" Tien Shinhan's pupils shrank, and he dodged to the side repeatedly.

The thick blue beam of light whistled past his ear, exploding in the distant clouds and turning into a magnificent, massive fireball.

The entire martial arts arena fell silent for a moment, then erupted into even more enthusiastic exclamations!

"So... so strong! That Kamehameha!" Krillin's mouth hung open, his face filled with shock.

Yamcha took a deep breath, his heart shaken. Although he knew Raditz was very strong, seeing a Kamehameha of such power with his own eyes was still shocking.

"Too amazing! Raditz!" Goku was so excited he almost jumped up, his eyes burning with intense fighting spirit. "That's it, Raditz! Your progress is truly incredible."

He recalled the sparring match a year ago where he had easily crushed Raditz. Comparing it to the present, this leap in strength made his blood boil.

Master Roshi, standing to the side, was also somewhat shocked. "This kid Raditz, he's been quiet, but he's given me a huge surprise."

"Tien Shinhan isn't bad either. It really is the era of the young," he added with a sigh.

In the spectator stands, Bulma looked at the tall, upright youth on the stage, the corners of her mouth curling up as she suddenly shouted, "Go for it! Raditz, beat him down hard!!"

"Hey, hey, try to be a lady," Oolong said.

In the air, Tien Shinhan's face turned pale. In a contest of speed and strength, he was at an absolute disadvantage; going head-to-head clearly wouldn't work.

His mind raced as he landed on the ring, facing Raditz once again.

"I have to admit, you are indeed very strong," Tien Shinhan said in a deep voice. "But a fight isn't just a contest of strength!"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly raised his hands to his temples, and the ki within his body fluctuated violently in a special way.

"Solar Flare!!"

Instantly, Tien Shinhan's entire body emitted a blinding light, and the whole arena was shrouded in white.

The audience let out a chorus of gasps; caught off guard, everyone lost their vision and fell into temporary blindness.

Raditz was no exception; everything before his eyes turned into a vast expanse of white.

"Good chance!" Tien Shinhan seized the opportunity to dash forward, his right hand charging up a heavy blow, aiming a clean, direct strike at his opponent's face.

However, the expected sensation of his fist connecting with his opponent did not come.

Instead, his wrist was firmly gripped by the other!

"Why?!" Tien Shinhan asked in shock. "How can you still see?"

"If you can't see, don't rely on your senses," Raditz said in a calm tone. "The moment you intended to attack, the trajectory of your 'ki' was already exposed."

With that, he exerted force with the hands gripping Tien Shinhan's wrist, rotated his body, and threw him off the ring once again.

"Off you go!"

Tien Shinhan spun through the air, flying over a dozen meters before he could barely steady himself.

"It's like this again. He could have won."

This time, he flew even higher. Suppressing the unwillingness in his heart, Tien Shinhan looked down at the ring below. The youth was looking up; although his eyes didn't seem to have fully recovered, his posture remained steady.